Now that life has slowed down a bit, I look back on those last 2 months in Houston and can't believe we did so much! We had so much fun those last few months, it really did fly by too quickly!
Here are some of the highlights:
Not being sure when we could make time for the real Disney World, I decided we needed to get to the Disney Store at the Galleria before we left, and if this was how excited she was in the store, I really can't fathom this girl's amazement with the real deal!
This was an honest to goodness magic mirror! You choose a princess wand to wave and whatever wand you hold up, that is the princess that pops in the mirror and starts talking to you!
She was in an absolute trance, heck, mommy was in a trance too, it was so cool!
Gazing lovingly at all the dresses.
Sweet girl, she knew we were not there to buy her anything and she did SO well leaving that store without a single toy, the experience was enough!
The minute she walked in, she got real quiet, walked very softly, it was all so much, she was certainly joyful, but in a very serious, this means business kind of way : ).
Now we didn't get to Disney World, but when Disney on Ice came to Houston, Val and I knew we could not let such an opportunity pass our girls by!
So, here we are, with Lina and her family, ALL of us enjoying quite the show!
It was very impressive, even for the grownups!
Val, Dr. Jay and Lina : )
(every day, Bekah asks me to pretend I am Ms Val or Lina, and sometimes, one of the dolls in her dollhouse gets to be Dr. Jay. It's been sweet ( and sort of sad) to see Bekah work through her sadness through play)
Both girls wore their Cinderella dresses and brought their Cinderella dolls, prepping for this event was a serious matter : ).
And because it was so serious, Bekah actually did what she did in the Disney store and got real quiet and oddly enough, kept her hands in her mouth, a good amount of the time! It makes me giggle just thinking about it! It was almost "too much" for her to take, we thought, and she sort of reverted back to what she did when she was younger.
Sweet girl! It really was alot for her to take in!
We managed to get some really great seats!
It was honestly one of my favorite memories with our girl! It must have been heaven for her, being with her family and her best friend, in princess world!
Checkout those cowboy boots! She is not ALL princess, we have some cowgirl in her too! : )
Zack was on call that day and I am so grateful that he did not get called in, watching Bekah that night was an experience that Zack and I will never forget!
Spending quality time with friends we knew we would not be seeing for awhile was so important to me, so we did our best to do just that, between packing and getting ready : ).
Bekah felt very special to go on a dinner date with her friend Asher!
They were so sweet, wanting to do a belated birthday celebration! Thanks Asher for such a special memory!
My neighbors were so thoughtful too, they threw us a going away block party!
With a slide jumpy house and everything! It made the most sense to put it in our yard, size wise and location wise, so you can imagine Bekah's amazement when she woke up from her nap and saw it in her front yard! She asked for a "block party" every day for a good two weeks after that!
A water slide jump house is the ULTIMATE in block party fun! It kept the kids of all ages happy for hours!
Thanks Maggie and Kathy for planning such a fun party!
One of our neighbors, Annalia, was our Mother's Helper, that came over once a week to play. She wanted to come over one last time with her younger brother to say goodbye.
It was sad to say goodbye to her, once she was in high school, we would have loved to use her as a babysitter!
That last month, our dear friends the Smith's were also moving, for their daddy to start being a doctor too! So , we had the funnest slumber party at our house, to get in some good time with them, before we went separate ways.
Bekah truly adores Hunter and Barrett, they are like family to her!
I will forever cherish our Houston memories with this dear family.I don't know what we would have done without them there!
Robyn has been a rock for me, teaching me so much about motherhood and being a doctor's wife! Thank you Robyn for all your encouragement and strength! We love you guys!
And thanks to Robyn, I met another mommy I love, Emily!
What a fun lunch date we had, celebrating Emily's Birthday!
I sure do miss Houston restaraunts!
Can't say goodbye to Houston withouth going to Tiny's one last time, for yet another, birthday celebration!
Kati and Anderson came out for the birthday lunch:
And Lina as well.
Mommy wanted the morning off, so I got in big trouble for not bringing Bekah with me, sorry Lina!
Happy Birthday Diane, Ting and Val!
Along with Tiny's, one can't say goodbye to Houston without paying homage to Berings.
I will forever hold a special place in my heart for Berings!
Being the "store around the corner," that place never let me down in children's clothing, gifts, stationary and sweet treats! Bekah loved going with me, because they have these awesome doll houses for kids to play with, so Minnie always came with us to play in them. The deal was, let mommy shop and then, you can play in the dollhouses, worked every time!
I kid you not, now, when I tell Bekah we have to go shopping or go buy a gift, she runs to get Minnie and asks, "Are we going to Berings mama?"
It is a common love that we share : ).
A place in Goodnight Houston that we have never been to is, Discovery Green, a super fun water pad! After reading about it, Bekah asked if she too could go, so, we met our friends Colt and Lina up there. All that hype was defintly worth it!
Bekah still talks about Discovery Green as well!
Fun lunch date afterwards with Lina and James : ).
We also got to help Ms. Ting celebrate her birthday that month, with a surprise playdate, where we presented her with her gift! Leave it to Jack and Bekah ( the bookworms) to crawl up next to Ting the minute she gets a book out!
Bekah also requested that she have a lunch date : ), with Jack Byrd.
She had fun picking an outfit for the event : ).
This picture makes me laugh, she looks so serious!
Kudos to Gramommy for her excellent taste in children's clothing, even down to the sunglasses!
Matt's Market is always a great place to meet friends : ), another neighborhood spot
that we miss so much! Bekah had a great time with Jack Byrd and frequently asks when Jack is coming to visit her! She loves that guy!
Dance class wrapped up right before we moved, I was glad we didn't have to miss any of these much loved classes.
Big sisters Bekah and Lina with their little brothers and their dance teacher on their last day of dance:
Loving on Baby James:
Had to capture this tradition of theirs.
Every day, after dance, the girls would run under the stairs in the "lobby" and play princess games, one of which being "the satin dress game", where they pretended one of them was Cinderella and the other one was a step sister. The step sister would try to "rip Cinderella's dress" and then Cinderella would dramatically scream, "my satin dress, my satin dress!" It was a game they came up with ALL on their own and though it was quite disruptive in public and often times embarrassing for Val and I, it was special to them, so it is, oddly, special to us too!
We got to celebrate Zoe's 3rd birthday right before we left too!
Like Hunter and Barrett, Bekah has been friends with Zoe ever since we moved here and
has always loved spending time with her.
Bekah and I will miss these lovely ladies and our trips out to the Woodlands to play with them!
We attended VBS during our last month in Houston.
It was bittersweet. I loved being there, and had to focus on the present, but I just kept thinking about how I want our kids to grow up in that amazing church environment . . . we miss Christ the King so very much, but hope to attend their VBS each summer.
Bekah and Benjamin with Jack : ).
Got to celebrate my brother's birthday before we left too, which was fun!
Rani threw him an awesome surprise birthday party, way to go Aunt Rani!
Only one more year until you are 30 Uncle Jeff!
We also go to celebrate Zack's fellow resident's birthday, Mike : ).
Happy Birthday Mike, we miss seeing you guys!
Two days before we moved, was Colt's birthday party! I was so relieved that we got to make it to this favorite friend of Bekah's! It was fitting, that his party was the last one we had the privilege of going to, since it was he and his loving mama who introduced Bekah and I to all the other families in my incredible playgroup!
Lina and Bekah getting in some more hugs before we moved!
It was great celebrating the boy we all love, Colt and seeing all of our friends, like Chloe and her family, who we have known since our music class days in Prelude!
Chloe's family has been so supportive of us and we thank them so much for their friendship!
Singing happy birthday to Colt boy!
We love you Colt, Bekah asks to see you ALL the time!
And the day before we moved, was sweet Baby James' baptsim, another special event I was so honored to be a part of!
Colt, Lina and Bekah playing at the luncheon afterwards:
What a doll! We sure miss that pretty face!
Happy Baptism Day James, we pray for you all the time!
Whew! I am both exhausted ( and for those of you still reading, I am sure you are too!) and a little sad . . . . Our lives were so very full of friendly faces, support and love in Houston . .
But in the words of Dr. Seuss,
"Don't cry because it's over,
smile because it happened."
Which are the words that my friend Ting chose to put on our going away party invitations that my playgroup threw us! They really have been words that I have had to put in my heart and hold on to. . .
And that brings me to the subject of our next post, The Going Away Party- Part 2!
That will be next week : ).
But I will end this post by saying thank you to Aunt Sarah, for it was Aunt Sarah that allowed us to have so much fun that last week we were here. She stayed with us for a whole week, helping us to pack, watching Benjamin so Bekah and I could go "play" with our friends, and really being a great emotional support for this frazzled, sad and often times, stressed out mommy!
We love you Sarah and can't thank you enough for the gift of time and love you gave us that
very big week!
2 comments:
I loved reading all about your last few months in Houston! Looks like you guys had a blast at the Disney on Ice show. And what a great picture of you, Robyn and Emily!
jenny this is a great post. i especially love the pics of bekah feeling a little overwhelmed at the disney store and disney on ice. such a sweet reaction :-)
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